Jim Cramer Blog

Sprint (NYSE: S - News) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News): On the report that Vodaphone may make a bid for VZ, Cramer would buy Sprint since "Vodaphone is saying cell phone networks are worth a lot of money." He thinks Sprint may be bought by private equity or "someone who needs to have another network in America." Concerning Verizon's CEO, Ivan Siedenburg, Cramer said, "He's done a great job with triple play. He's an underestimated man from day one."
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO - News): Cramer reiterated Coke is the "ultimate weak-dollar play" and predicts the stock will reach $55 or $56 by the end of the week.
Moody's (NYSE: MCO - News) and McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP - News): Cramer would short MCO by being long MHP since the latter company, which owns Standard and Poor's is "a better outfit that's more diversified."

Labels: Jim Cramer, Jim Cramer's Stop Trading, KO, MCO, MHP, S, VZ

Bullish calls:
GlobalSantaFe (NYSE: GSF - News): ' I like GSF.'Transocean (NYSE: RIG - News): 'I like RIG.'McDonald's (NYSE: MCD - News): 'What's not to like? You know MCD is my favorite. Now, it is true that my friend Danny Meyer did indicate that McDonald's is kind of like a filling station... but it's a darn clean filling station and, really, honestly... is there anyone in the world that doesn't like their fries?... 'EMC (NYSE: EMC - News)Moody's (NYSE: MCO - News): 'Well I did have a sense that they [Credit Suisse downgraded] were a combination Zuukoff-Stalin, when they were doing that kind of communist downgrade. Here's the deal: I think that MCO is not as good as MHP.'McGraw Hill (NYSE: MHP - News): 'I like MHP, because it's got a more diversified business. So I support the idea of MCO, but not as much as MHP.'Greif (NYSE: GEF - News): 'I think that this is the company that looks so much like it could be taken out in a private equity deal. It's got the plastic, fiber, corrugate... basic American commodity plays... but, I can't recommend that at its 52-week high ... You need a pullback, before you can back the truck up.'Halliburton (NYSE: HAL - News): 'HAL announces what is the equivalent of the giant buyback that I've been looking for. I just had to point that out...'China Mobile (NYSE: CHL - News): 'You should be going into CHL - the only Chinese stock I recommend on this show.'Time Warner (NYSE: TWX - News): ' Incredibly undervalued ... I still think it goes to $25.'Chemical & Mining Company of Chile (NYSE: SQM - News): ' ... even in the $140s -SQM is a better fertilizer stock [than TRA].'
Bearish calls:
Alvarion (NasdaqGM: ALVR): 'This is an Israeli WiMax play, that I think is too tied into the whole cell phone morass... I want you in my McCaw play [which will be traded as CLWR], not in ALVR...'Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX - News): 'At $18 and change, we hit the 'sell block' on that... we said we don't want to be greedy, we said get out. Here it is at $16 and change. I'm warming up, but I am not ready to pull the trigger. I say 'don't buy, don't buy...'Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL - News): 'This one is so well run. It is just light years from the BPs... from the Royal Dutches ... I believe that the better buys right now - and I'm saying ring the register - are in the oil drillers. I like GSF and I like RIG.'Netscout Systems (NasdaqGM: NTCT): 'NTCT is not my favorite here. I'd rather see you in a kind of software/hardware play.'Qiao Xing Universal Telephone (NasdaqGM: XING): 'Your stock should be sold. You should be going into CHL - the only Chinese stock I recommend on this show.'Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO - News): 'You know, three guys have now upgraded KO and the stock's not moving. I'm putting it in the 'don't buy' camp. Don't buy, don't buy.'Terra Industries (NYSE: TRA - News)

Labels: ALVR, BSX, CHL, EMC, GEF, GSF, HAL, Jim Cramer, KO, Lightning Round, Mad Money, MCD, MCO, MHP, NBL, RIG, SQM, TRA, TWX

Second Helping: Denny's (NASDAQ: DENN - News)
Cramer says that Denny's is a comeback story that is being ignored because most Wall Street investors are "snobs ..."They don't understand what's going on at these restaurants." Denny's has been selling restaurants and is moving toward a franchise business model to cover its debts. Cramer cited CEO Nelson Marchioli's confident statements about elminiating debt without selling 21 of its stores, and commented that Denny's has an "amazing" opportunity to refinance its low rates. Since Denny's is a small-cap stock, Cramer cautions investors to use limit orders when buying or "you will get ripped off."

Mistaken Downgrade: McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP - News), New York Times (NYSE: NYT - News), Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ - News)
Cramer says that AG Edward's downgrade of MHP is an incredible opportunity to buy a diversified media stock. Although people consider NYT and the Wall Street Journal as the Harvard and Yale of newspapers, investors would be better off buying the universities, comments Cramer : "In 50 years, I doubt anyone will even read newspapers." In any case, NYT and DJ have two classes of stock which prevent takeovers. Cramer calls McGraw Hill "The only media play that isn't really a media play... it's more like a private-equity play," because every private-equity deal needs to be financed with bonds rated by Standard & Poors which MHP owns. "It is a real company, with real growth, real profits and real dividends," Cramer said. "The AG Edwards downgrade was wrong."

Sell Block: Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT - News)
Cramer urged investors to sell this stock "six ways from Sunday" because the retail giant is suffering from the "shutdown of the immigrant buyer" due to a tough I.D. verification program in New Jersey which prevents illegal immigrants from renewing their driving licenses. Since the stores are usually not within walking distance of residential communities, "No car, no Wal-Mart," concludes Cramer who adds, admitting that the subject is a touchy one: "If a liberal state like New Jersey is cracking down like this, you can only imagine what other states are doing."
CEO Interview: Rick Rosenfield, California Pizza Kitchen (NASDAQ: CPKI - News)
When Cramer asked Rick Rosenfield how he would reassure those who are worried about his company, he admitted, "We did have some slippage, but I haven't seen much of a downgrade ... Our investors and analysts have stood by us." He added that the restaurant's profitablility and fundamentals are solid. Rosenfield went on to define "slippage" as bureacracy which is out of the company's control. When asked if he was concerned about the waning popularity of pizza, Rosenfield stressed the restaurant's diverse menu, which includes salads, appetizers and pasta. Cramer would take advantage of CPKI's slippage to pick up some stock, because he likes the restaurant.
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Labels: CPKI, DENN, DJ, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, MHP, NYT, WMT

New York Times (NYSE: NYT - News) and Tribune (NYSE: TRB - News) - Cramer would use the news of Hank Greenberg's purchase of NYT stock as an opportunity to sell, since the company has two classes of stock which will " stop just the kind of maneuvering that is being done now to get The Times to do something to make itself more profitable," Cramer said. "So, why try to force a takeover when you can't?" With its A class and B class shares, NYT is like a "a private institution masquerading as a public stock," comments Cramer, who says that Greenberg would be more successful buying a university. Cramer takes the extension on the sale of Tribune's newspaper as a sign that it doesn't generate cash flow; "The private equity guys will ditch the papers fast, bring TV public quickly and sell the Cubs for much more than Tribune would know how to." Cramer also criticized Tribune's "stupid, highly leveraged buyback."
Related: Lon Juricic notes the jump in NYT's shares on the news of Hank Greenberg's purchase.
Something's Brewing: Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD - News) - Contrary to popular belief, BUD says that it is not in decline, and after finding that the news was better than he expected, Cramer agrees. Although The Wall Street Journal reported problems in the BUD's international brewing, Cramer points out another article mentioned the stock was up 75 cents after reiterating its earnings-per-share growth projections. "Buy it today, the press got it wrong," he said.
Bogus Perceptions: Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News) and Tiffany (NYSE: TIF - News) - In spite of the "bogus perception" that Verizon is clueless and is spending too much money on wireless, Cramer comments Verizon is a "low-risk stock to play some really terrific stuff," such as its mobile deal with YouTube, its ringtone downloading business and "terrific" dividend. Another "bogus" idea is that oil's rise is behind recent selloffs, but Cramer pointed out that both oil and the market are up, and the real culprit is in an "incredible amount of shorting" by hedge funds. For example, hedge funds were bearish on Tiffany on Monday because of talk about its weakness in Japan. However, the U.S. business has compensated for this weakness and the stock is up.
Related: Steven Towns discusses Tiffany's comments on its Japanese business.
Bullish calls:
McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP - News): Cramer called MHP a "phenomenal" diversified stock with the the "best business model of any media company," and recommends buying up to $67.Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT - News): Cramer likes this company better than CHTR.Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ - News): JNJ has a "fantastic story," says Cramer, and has been unjustifiably hammered because of its stent business.Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP - News): The credit belongs to CEO Fred Hassan, a "bankable guy" who has improved SGP "brick-by-brick."Companhia Vale do Rio (NYSE: RIO - News): "Don't sell it here, it's too darn cheap."
Neutral/Bearish calls:
Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR - News): This company needs to refinance its debts so its shareholders can make money.Novartis (NYSE: NVS - News): This stock is not best-0f-breed, according to Cramer, who prefers JNJ and SGP.
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Labels: CGTR, Jim Cramer, JNJ, LVLT, MHP, NVS, Real Money, RIO, SGP